Islands of Globesity : A Study on Human Health, Unequal Exchange, and Human-Environmental Relations in Samoa. Report from a Minor Field Study in Samoa, May-June 2007

Abstract: In this field study, based on fieldwork during a period of two months, the impact of imported food and goods on human health and the environment in the Pacific island state of Samoa is investigated. The focus is on the direct impact of imported food on human health, as well as the role of imported food and goods in changing human-environmental relations. It is argued that modern problems of health are part of our larger ecological crisis, and should be understood as such. Applying theories of ecologically unequal exchange to the field material, it is further argued that in a self-reinforcing way, the growing dependency on imported goods and industrial low-quality food in Samoa is a contributing factor to unsustainable use of local natural resources, as well as unsustainable patterns of consumption.